Artistic Mayhem
by FloridasBluestAngel
Summary: The murder of a student rocks a small art college in New York, so Beckett, Castle, and the team must figure out who the culprit is, which is easier said than done. Will the 12th be able to figure out who did this heinous act in time, or will there be more tragedy in its wake?
1. Chapter 1

AN: Should be a pretty short story, around 7 chapters or so. Takes place around the beginning of season five...

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

* * *

It Has Only Just Begun

The young college student looked around the bus stop that he was waiting at, while playing silently on his phone to pass the time. His night class got out later than expected, and now, he must wait at the dimly lighted bus stop for the last bus to arrive. There was no one else around, so he took a seat as he continued to wait for his mode of transportation. A few minutes later, another person came strolling along and took a seat next to the young man. The young college student only spared them a glance, noticing that they were in a black hoodie and had on a navy-blue backpack. After his quick once over of the stranger, he went back to his phone which was dying from low battery. The person in the hoodie barely moved a muscle as they sat on the bench, making the young man uncomfortable, and wanting the bus to come already.

As the young man started to text his roommate about the creepy kid sitting next to him, his phone screen went pitch black, signaling that it had finally succumbed to its low battery. He let out a frustrated sigh, and put his phone into his pants pocket since it was of no use right now. Since the bus still wasn't there yet, and he had no way of calling a taxi or a friend, he decided to make conversation with the stranger.

"Hey, do you know what time it is?" he asked.

The young person in the hoodie only shook their head, and he let out another sigh. He wasn't sure if he'd get anything out of the stranger, but tried again anyway, "Do you happen to know when the last bus comes?"

Once again, they just shook their head and he got frustrated with the stranger. He turned to face them and said, "Yo, dude, what's your problem?"

The stranger finally looked up at him and said, "Everyone…"

The college student's brows furrowed in confusion as he stared at the stranger's shadowy face. Before he could make any kind of comment, a knife was shoved deep into his abdomen, making his eyes go wide with fear and pain. The knife was pulled from his abdomen and was jabbed into him a dozen more times. After the 13th blow, he was down on the ground, taking in large gulps of air, as he fought through the immense amount of pain he was in. As the blood filled his lungs, and he found it harder to breath, he sputtered out one question, "Why?"

"It doesn't matter," was all they replied before they slit the college students throat, putting him out of his misery.

The hooded stranger stared down at their victim for a few seconds, taking it all in, before they walked off into the dark of night, leaving the bloody scene behind.

* * *

Kate woke up to the sound of her phone going off, and let out a grown as she sat up in her bed. She raked a hand through her messy brown hair, and grabbed her cellphone off the nightstand. She saw that it was Esposito, and answered it, "What do we have, Espo?"

"A dead college student at the Brooklyn Academy of the Arts College," Esposito replied on the other end.

"All right, I'll be there in a bit."

"Okay, see you when you get here."

Kate got out of bed, stretching her aching muscles, before she went to her wardrobe to find something to wear for work today. As she picked out a simple outfit for work, consisting of a white dress shirt, black slacks, and a black blazer, she dialed her boyfriend to tell him that they had a case. She was still processing that she was dating none other than Richard Castle, but every time she looked into his dreamy blue eyes, she'd think of every feeling that she's had for him for the past four and a half years. Their relationship has had their ups and downs through those years, and it's been intense and rocky, but they had a lot of humorous and powerful moments as well. But now that they were together, Kate can finally relax and let her true feelings show for that adorable, yet annoying, writer she's fell for.

The only thing bad about this relationship, is that they have to hide it from everyone at the precinct, which isn't very easy, but they try. Alexis and Martha already found out their little secret, so at least that was one group they've gotten out of the way. At least they don't have to be extremely discreet at the precinct, because their banter with each other is pretty normal for them, and they came up with a way to show their affection with each other with just a handshake. It wasn't anything crazy, but it was something special that showed that they were on the same page.

The phone stopped ringing, taking Beckett out of her thoughts, and Castle answered, "Good morning, Beckett."

"Good morning, Castle," she said with a smile on her face.

"So, is this a romantic phone call or a work-related phone call?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble Castle, but this happens to be a work-related phone call."

"Ah, figured as much. But I'm excited about that too."

"Of course, you are," she said with a chuckle.

He chuckled back and said, "Maybe it'll help me think of a new idea for my next Nikki Heat novel."

"We'll see. Anyway, the crime scene is at Brooklyn Academy of the Arts College. I'll meet you down there."

"Will do, see you in a bit Kate."

"See you then Castle."

Kate hung up her phone, and finished getting ready before she headed out of her apartment and to the crime scene.

* * *

When she arrived at the crime scene, Castle was already standing by with two cups of coffee in hand. She was grateful like always that Castle had brought her coffee, and today she needed it because last night was a nightmare for her. She didn't fall asleep until about 4 in the morning because her neighborhood decided to be hectic all night, from car alarms to blazing horns, it was terrible. She took her cup from Castle and said, "Thanks Castle, I needed this today."

"Rough night?" Castle questioned with a smirk.

"It was horrible, there was so much noise last night in my neighborhood, I wanted to arrest everyone on the block for disturbing my sleep."

"Well, you can always stay over at my place."

"I need a good night's rest Castle."

He grinned and said, "Oh Beckett, I like the way you think."

She rolled her eyes while grinning back at him, but before she could say anything else, Esposito came up to them, "Hey, glad you could make it."

"What do we have, Espo?" Kate asked him.

"Twenty-one-year-old male, whose name was Patrick Connors. He was a sophomore here and was studying animation and technology."

"Did he have class last night?"

"According to the dean here, Patrick did have a class last night at 6:30pm. It was an elective, Art History, and apparently it ran late."

"Who found the body?" Castle asked.

"A few students who were making their way to school this morning. They notified campus police, who then notified us."

"Anything else?" Kate asked.

"Not right now. Lanie's still looking at the body, and Ryan is talking to the campus officers to see if he can get any surveillance footage."

"Okay, thanks Espo."

"No problem."

Castle and Kate walked over to Lanie, who was going over the last bit of information that she got from the body.

"Hmm… Stabbed multiple times, and a slit throat. I figure that's what killed him," Castle said as he looked at the body of the young college student.

"Yes, more than likely. But I still have to do an autopsy to make sure," Lanie said.

"Robbery?" Kate questioned.

"Doesn't seem like it. Everything was still on him when we got here, money, phone, backpack, wallet."

"Crime of passion. Young college lovers get into a heated dispute when he decides to break it off, and she goes into a fiery rage because she's still in love with him, and ultimately kills him," Castle said.

"Decent theory Castle, but we don't even know if he had a girlfriend. Until then, we just have to leave this as an unexplained murder," Kate said.

"Fine."

"No luck guys," Ryan said as he went over to Kate and Castle.

"No surveillance footage?" Kate asked.

"No, they haven't had cameras working over here for years. Not many students or faculty members use this area, especially at night, so they haven't replaced them."

"Okay, well maybe we can track him from his class last night and find out if anyone was following him."

"Got it, I'll go see if I can get that footage."

"Thanks Ryan."

He nodded before he walked away to go speak with the campus officers again, so he could get the security footage from last night. Kate looked around the area before she said, "They must have known this was a desolated area to commit the crime here."

"So, it was probably a student here," Castle said.

"That's my guess, or pretty much anyone who frequented this school."

"My theory still stands."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Come on, let's go talk to the dean and see if I can get Patrick's parents contact information, and any other information that they may have on him."

Castle nodded and followed Kate towards the school's administration office. As they made their way to the office, a young girl around Patrick's age, got knocked down by a bunch of rowdy boys who were messing around as they made their way to class. The young student huffed as she tried to pick up her fallen notebooks and textbooks from the ground. The rowdy boys kept walking, not even noticing that they had knocked her down. Kate walked over to the girl and helped pick up the rest of her items.

"Um… Thanks, I appreciate it," the young girl said as she looked at Kate.

"It's no problem," Kate said as they stood up.

"Are you a cop?"

Beckett looked at the girl confused, but answered her question, "Yes, my name is detective Beckett. This is my partner Richard Castle."

"Oh, the writer, and you're the one he based Nikki Heat after."

"That's correct."

"I hope you find out who murdered Patrick. He was a nice guy."

"You knew the victim?" Castle asked the girl.

"He was more like an acquaintance, or peer. I had a few classes with him, including last night. It's crazy to have seen him in class, and now he's gone."

"Did you happen to notice anything unusual last night with Patrick?" Kate asked.

"No, not really. He seemed perfectly fine to me, but like I said, I really didn't know him too well, we were only classmates."

"How about when you left class, did you notice anyone else around? Someone different?" Castle asked.

"Not that I can recall. It was pretty much everyone from our class, and I think another class got let out late too. Other than that, no one really out of the ordinary."

"Thanks, I appreciate you talking with us. Here's my card if you happen to think about anything else," Kate said as she handed her a card.

She took the card and said, "Okay, I will."

They parted ways, and Kate and Castle continued on their way to the dean's office. When they got there, they were prompted by the secretary to go ahead into his office. The dean was on the phone when they walked in, and he said quietly to them, "One moment."

They nodded to the man, before they took a seat in the chairs that were in front of his desk, and waited patiently for him to get off the phone. Not too long after they had entered, he hung up the phone, and addressed them with a sad smile, "Sorry, that was my five-year-old son. He loves to talk sometimes. So, I assume this has to do with Patrick."

"Yes, Mr. Spencer, I'm Detective Beckett and this is Richard Castle. We just wanted to ask you a few questions, and get his parents information," she said.

"Sure, anything to solve this gruesome murder. It really is a tragedy."

"Yes, it is. Do you happen to know anything about Patrick? Was he a good student?"

"Well, I don't know everyone at this school, but Patrick was one of the few who took part in different activities and helped out around here. He was on the dean's list, all A's and B's in his classes. He was definitely going to graduate in a couple of years, no problem. It's terrible to see that he won't be able to follow his dreams."

"So, he didn't get into any trouble?"

"Not, that I'm aware of. Sure, everyone has something outside of their school lives, but from what I saw, he was a fantastic and caring young man. The only thing I can tell you is to talk to his roommate, Chase. They've been roommates since they've started college, so he'd probably know more about his personal life."

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate your time."

"No problem," he grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and said, "This is his parent's information, his class list, and his apartment number. I hope you find who did this."

"Thanks, we'll definitely do our best to solve this case," Kate said as she took the paper.

He nodded and they headed out of the office, making their way back to the precinct.

* * *

They got ahold of Patrick's parents, and they came to the precinct to answer a few quick questions that they had for them. It went pretty quick, and the investigation was still at square one. It turned out that Patrick wasn't currently in a relationship with anyone, and his parents said that he was a good kid who never got into any trouble. The only person left to get answers from was his roommate, Chase, and if that didn't come up with any new information, then they would be hitting a dead end with this case.

Castle and Beckett arrived at the college apartments that Patrick was staying at and went to room 302. Kate knocked on the door, and after a few seconds the door opened to reveal a young man around Patrick's age. Kate showed her badge to the young man and said, "I'm Detective Beckett and this is Richard Castle. Are you Chase, Patrick's roommate?"

"Yes, I'm Chase. Did you find out who killed him yet?" Chase asked.

"We haven't found who did this yet. We're here to ask you a few questions, maybe look around."

"Yeah, sure. Come in."

Kate and Castle walked into the dorm room, and found tons of trash and laundry strewn about. There was no denying that two college boys lived there. Chase cleared off the mess on the couch they had, and said, "Sorry about the mess. We haven't had many visitors in here lately. We were actually planning on cleaning this weekend, but… Yeah…"

Castle and Kate took a seat on the couch, and she said, "I understand that this is hard for you Chase."

"I've spent almost two years with Patrick, and hung out with him, played video games with him, took classes with him. Now he's gone…"

"I know. Do you know of anyone who might have wanted to hurt him?"

Chase shook his head and said, "No. Patrick was a great guy. Everyone got along with Patrick, and we even hung out with the same group of friends. We did some volunteer work, went to arcades, and the library. On occasion, we'd go to the bar near our campus, but we'd have a drink, maybe two… Three if it's a special occasion, or if it's just one of those weeks. We weren't really ones to get drunk."

"Did he have a girlfriend?" Castle asked.

"Well, no. Um… Patrick wasn't really into chicks if you catch my drift."

"Oh…"

"He wasn't too sure himself, until a few months ago. He's been on and off with a few girls, but he experimented one night, and next thing you know he's telling me that he's gay."

"Were you two?"

Chase's eyes went wide and he said, "No, no… I'm not gay. I supported my friend, he didn't even tell his parents yet, but I like chicks."

"Got it."

"Was Patrick seeing anyone before he died?" Kate asked.

"Not that I'm aware of. He was still figuring things out as far as I know."

"What time does Patrick usually get back from class?"

"I don't know, usually around nine or nine thirty. If class ran late, possibly ten thirty."

"Are you usually here when he gets back?"

"Sometimes, but I sometimes go over to my girlfriend's place and crash there."

"Were you here last night?" Castle asked.

"Yes, I was studying for my upcoming midterm."

"When did you notice Patrick wasn't here?"

"This morning… I thought I didn't hear him come in last night, but I did crash after a few hours of studying."

"Do you mind if we check Patrick's room?" Kate asked.

"No, go ahead. If it leads you to finding his killer, then I'm all for it."

"Thanks, Chase."

"No problem, it's the door to the left. I'll be in my room if you need anything."

They nodded before they headed off to Patrick's room to look around for clues. Kate opened the door, and found a decently spotless room compared to the disastrous living room.

"Well, I wonder who the messy one is," Castle said as he looked around.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting this," Kate said.

"Should be easy enough to find any clues."

"Hopefully, or it could be another dead end."

"Yes, but at least we found out he was gay. No one really knows that yet, so maybe something fishy is going down."

"Maybe…"

They checked around his room, and found pretty much everything you'd expect to find in a college boys room. Kate was giving up hope that they'd find anything in here, but when she tried to open one of his drawers it kept getting caught on something. She dug around the drawer and found a thick journal that Patrick was hiding. She held it up to Castle and said, "Looks like Patrick was trying to hide something."

"Ooh, a secret diary. I wonder what juicy secrets he has in there," Castle said with excitement.

"Well, I hope it's one that helps us find his killer."

Kate started flipping through his journal, which he started writing in since he started college a couple of years ago. They finally got up to more recent events and found out what was haunting Patrick.

"Wow, this kid seemed really confused," Castle said as he read through the diary.

"Yeah, he didn't know what he was," Kate said.

She flipped through a few more pages and said, "Look, he's been talking about this guy named Tucker for quite some time."

"Yes, and it sounds like they were having a good time a few weeks ago," Castle said with a smirk.

"Castle… Seriously though, if we find this Tucker, maybe he'll help us out."

"True, does he have any more entries?"

"Let's see," she flipped through some more and said, "It looks like he's doubting his sexuality again."

"Man, this poor kid… I feel bad for him."

"Me too. Wait, he's starting to fall for some girl, Alley."

"That was a week after he slept with Tucker."

"I see that. I wonder who Alley is?"

"Me too, but apparently Alley and Tucker had his heart and his mind split into two."

"I wonder if Chase knows who these people are."

"Let's go ask him."

They left Patrick's room and went over to Chase's, who had the door open, so they could enter. He looked up from where he was sitting on his bed, and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"We found his diary. Did you know he had this?" Kate asked.

"No, I didn't. Was there anything in there about me?"

"Not much, but he did say you were an awesome roommate, and that you had some fun times together," Castle said.

He smiled and said, "Cool… So, was there anything in there that could help?"

"Maybe… We were wondering if you knew a Tucker or an Alley?" Kate asked him.

"Oh yeah, I know Tucker. We play with him on the weekends, we go to like a gaming thing in town. It's kind of like a nerdy hangout for comic lovers and gaming nerds. We try to go at least twice a month just to hang out. He also lives in the building, room 102, and works at the bar we go to. He makes our drinks a lot."

"Were you aware of their relationship?" Castle asked.

"Wow, um… No. I wasn't even aware Tucker was gay, let alone dating my roommate. Was it serious?"

"He seemed confused, and wasn't quite sure what he felt for Tucker."

"Man, I wish I could have been there for him. I didn't even know."

"Do you know who Alley is?" Kate asked.

"Alley!? He wrote about Alley!?"

"I take it you know her," Castle said.

"I've had her in a few classes. She's a strange girl. Doesn't really talk much, but pretty nice. I asked her to borrow a pencil once, and she lent me it, but other than that, I don't really care for her."

"She's strange, just because she doesn't talk."

"I don't know. She just gives off this weird vibe. She's probably super cool, but I saw her totally freak this one-time last semester, and she was talking to herself, like a full-blown conversation."

"Hmm… that is a little strange."

"Do you know how she knew him?" Kate asked.

"I think she has class with him. I think it was last night's class now that I'm thinking about it."

"Thanks Chase, we appreciate the help."

"No problem. Please find out who did this."

"We'll do our best."

They left Chase and Patrick's apartment, and went down to room 102, so they could talk to Tucker. Kate rapped on the door a few times, and movement could be heard from within the apartment. Kate knocked again and said, "Tucker? This is detective Beckett with the NYPD. I have a few questions to ask you about Patrick Connors."

A young African American man opened the door and said, "What about Patrick? Is he okay?"

Kate and Castle gave each other a quick glance before she answered him, "Patrick was found dead this morning on campus grounds."

Tucker's eyes went wide and he stuttered out, "I… I can't believe this. Patrick didn't deserve this."

"We know this is hard for you Tucker, but we need to ask you some questions," Castle said.

"Um… Sure, come in."

Tucker led them into the living room, and they took a seat on the love seat while he sat on the sofa. He ran a hand down his face and asked, "You don't know who did it yet, do you?"

"No, that's why we're here. We're trying to figure out who did this to him," Kate said.

"Honestly, I don't know who would have wanted to hurt him. He was a great guy. He volunteered at several centers, and went to a lot of school activities. He pretty much got along with everyone, and that's what attracted me to him."

"Do you know if he was involved in anything?" Castle asked.

"No… I mean, I didn't really know him well. Sure, we live in the same building, I hang out with him at this gaming club, and serve him and his roommate drinks occasionally, but he didn't really share much about his personal life."

"Weren't you dating him?"

"We hooked up a few times, sure. Most of them long drunken nights, but he was still unsure of what he felt. He was still finding himself and I wasn't going to push him."

"When's the last time you saw him?" Kate asked.

"I think last week at our gaming club, but I didn't talk with him much while we were there. We decided to get some space for a while, you know, so he could figure out his feelings and what not."

"When did you decide this?"

"About two weeks ago, give or take."

"Do you know who Alley is?" Castle asked.

"I think he might have mentioned an Alley before. I really don't know her, he said she was kind of sweet, yet strange. Is she a suspect?"

"Possibly, but as of now we're just following up on some leads," Kate said.

"Oh, got it."

"Thank you for your time, Tucker."

"Anything to help you find Patrick's killer. He was a cool guy."

Tucker led them out of the apartment and Kate and Castle started to walk to her car, so they could head to the school to find out who Alley is. As they made their way to her vehicle, Castle said, "I feel bad for Patrick."

"Yeah, he seemed to be extremely confused, but it's a shame someone would do this to him," Kate said.

"Think this Alley girl did it?"

"Not sure, we're just going to have to wait and see."

"True… This case seems to be taking a lot of wild turns."

"I agree. We have little evidence and anyone could be a suspect."

"Yes, and my theory is slowly dissipating. Hopefully, Alley will help lead us to more information."

"We can only hope," Kate said before she hopped into her driver's seat.

Castle jumped into the passenger seat, and soon they were off to see the dean, so they could get answers on Alley.

* * *

They were sitting in the dean's office once again, and Kate said, "Sorry to bother you again, but we were wondering if we can get some information on a girl who was in Patrick's class last night."

"It's no problem at all detective. I want to catch this killer as much as you do," he said

"Thank you."

"Let me pull up the class list here, and I'll give you what you need."

He typed on his computer, and clicked on a few things before he said, "Okay, I got it up. Who are we looking for?"

"Her name is Alley," Kate said.

"Alley!? Alley Lockhart!?"

"It seems that Alley is pretty known around here, and not in a good way," Castle said.

"No… No… Alley is a fantastic student. She's… She's different from a lot of students who come through here, but I wouldn't believe that she'd be caught up in this."

"Different?"

"She's a sweet girl. She's kind of a loner, and doesn't really get involved in many of the school activities or anything. She likes to stick to herself."

"Really?"

"Yes, I rarely see her with anyone when she's on campus. So, I didn't think she'd even really know Patrick."

"You don't think she'd hurt anyone, do you?" Kate asked.

"No, I don't think Alley would do something like this. She doesn't seem like she could even hurt a fly."

"Do you know where we can find her?"

"Yes, she lives in the West Side apartment complex, room 203. Most of our art students reside there."

"Okay, thank you for your time."

"No problem. I hope Alley will be of help."

"We do too."

They left the school, and headed to the West Side apartments, hoping that this wouldn't be another dead end.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

* * *

And Then There Were Two

Kate and Castle reached Alley's apartment, and Castle knocked on the door a couple of times. The door opened within a few seconds, and what greeted them was a familiar face. One that they've seen earlier this morning on their way to the dean's office.

"You're Alley Lockhart?" Kate asked.

"Um, yes… Did I do something wrong?" she asked shyly.

"You knew Patrick more than you let on this morning, didn't you?" Castle asked.

"No, I swear. We just sat next to each other, that's it. We barely even said four words to each other."

"He wrote about you in his journal."

"He did? I… I barely even knew him."

"You didn't know he liked you?"

She smiled softly and said, "I didn't… He was definitely nicer to me than anyone else, but I thought that was because that was the kind of person he was."

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," Kate said.

"It hurts to know that Patrick liked me. Not too many do."

"Why is that, Alley?"

"Everyone thinks I'm weird. I'm not really a people person, and I just want to graduate and get out of here."

"You seem all right to me," Castle said, trying to cheer the girl up.

"Thanks… I just wish more people could understand me, but it's okay, it'll be over before I know it."

"I'm sure it will be. Thank you for your time Alley," Beckett said.

"It's fine, Patrick needs justice."

"He does indeed. Have a good day," Castle said.

"You as well, Castle and Detective Beckett."

They nodded farewell to the young girl, and went back to the car, so they could head to the precinct.

* * *

Everyone was gathered around the investigation board, studying it thoroughly, as they tried to understand this case a little more. Ryan rested against the desk behind him and asked out loud, "Why would someone kill Patrick randomly?"

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense. It wasn't a robbery, so what else could it be?" Esposito questioned.

"Maybe it was someone else he had confused feelings for," Castle suggested.

"Possibly, but it could also be a possible hate crime," Kate said.

"That's true, there have been quite a few of those popping up lately."

"It's a shame… I thought we'd be passed that by now," Ryan said.

"Yes, but some people just have this hate fused in their system. It's terrible really," Castle said.

They all mumbled their agreements and Kate said, "But someone could be lying to us."

"You think so?" Esposito asked.

"I don't know. They all seemed genuine about their feelings toward Patrick, none malicious whatsoever, but I think someone's hiding something."

"I think so too, it's just who that someone is," Castle chimed in.

"Yes, and we're going to need more evidence to narrow this down."

Captain Gates walked out of her office and said, "We have another murder at the college."

Everyone shared similar looks between each other and wondered what was going on at that school.

* * *

They were back at the college and were currently investigating the new murder that took place only an hour ago.

"So, her name was Jessica Gilbert. She was twenty-two years old, and was going to school here for photography," Ryan said as he gave them the run down of what he learned.

"Were there any witnesses?" Kate asked.

"No, there weren't. The Janitor discovered her body here, and then called us."

"Two murders, and neither crime had any witnesses. Not to mention this one was in broad daylight," Castle said.

"Yeah… There's definitely something fishy going on here," Kate said with a sigh.

"Well, all I can tell you is that this was a quick and easy kill. Her throat was slit pristinely, and she possibly died within minutes, maybe even seconds," Lanie said as she pointed at the wound.

"Think this was professional?"

"No… Whatever knife they used, it's definitely not a professional one, but to cut the correct spot that can kill someone instantly, that's a tough move to pull off."

"So, either our killer got extremely lucky, or they've done this before," Castle suggested.

"Possibly…" Kate said to him before she turned her attention back to Lanie, "Do you think you can figure out if the same knife was used in both murders?"

"I can try."

"Thanks… And Ryan, take Esposito and get more surveillance footage. Maybe we can link someone from the footage that we obtained from Patrick's murder, to the new footage."

"Got it," Ryan said before he walked away.

"Let's go see the dean again and see if we can find out if Jessica and Patrick were connected somehow."

* * *

Castle and Kate went back to the dean's office, and the dean didn't look too well. He looked visibly shaken and disheveled as he kept running his hand through his hair. He took several sips of water as he motioned for the two of them to sit down. He placed his water back down carefully as he sat down at his desk with a heavy sigh leaving his lips.

"Are you okay, Mr. Spencer?" Kate asked him.

"Sorry… these two murders have really shaken me up. I'm getting calls from parents, students, news reporters, and I have no clue what to say. We're trying to figure out if we have to close down the school until we get this nut job out of here and in jail," he said.

"We understand, Mr. Spencer. I'm sure the 12th will get to the bottom of this in no time," Castle said, trying to reassure the man.

"I'm just hoping they aren't coming for me next…"

"Why would you think that?" Kate questioned him.

"I don't know… I'm the head of this school, they might want to get back at me for something."

"I'm sure you'll be safe. If you want, I could see if I can get a uniformed officer to patrol your office and make sure no one can get to you."

"As much as I feel like I'm overreacting, I think having an officer in our administrative building would be great. It would take at least a bit of the stress off of me."

"Okay, I'll get someone as soon as we're done here."

"Thank you… So, what can I do for you?"

"Can we get some information on Jessica? Like her classes, class mates, where she's staying, and parent contacts."

"Sure thing, I'll pull all of that up and print them out for you guys."

"Did you know Jessica?" Castle asked him.

"Not as well as Patrick. She came in here a few times to discuss her classes, and to transfer some credits over, but other than that, she just went to school and got decent grades."

"Was she ever on the dean's list?"

"I think her first year, but lately she's been getting C's in most of her classes. Her GPA has dropped significantly because of that, but she was still on track to graduate."

He finished printing out the documents and grabbed the papers from his printer before he handed them over to Beckett. She flipped through them and he said, "Hopefully that gets you some good information. I have all four of her classes there, along with the roster for each of them. I have her apartment and parent contact information there as well."

"Thank you, Mr. Spencer. We'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry," Kate said as she stood up along with Castle.

"I sure hope so…"

They left the dean's office, and made their way back to the precinct, so they could sort through the papers they were given.

* * *

Kate was currently flipping through the roster of Jessica's four classes, while Castle was making them coffee in the break room. As she got to Jessica's last class, she started to lose hope that she would ever find some sort of connection, but she found a name that stood out to her on that last page. Castle came over to her desk, setting her cup of coffee down in front of her, before he sat down in the chair next to her desk.

"Find anything?" he asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Look at the names on the class roster for her Art History II course," Kate said.

Castle scanned the paper quickly and said, "Well, would you look at that."

"Look's like we got ourselves a lead."

"And quite possibly a killer."

* * *

Kate banged on the door of the apartment they were at just hours before, waiting for their main suspect to open it. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal a groggy looking Chase. When he noticed who was at the door, he perked up with confusion, and asked, "Did you find his killer?"

"We need to have a little chat, Chase. These officers will take you down to the precinct," Kate said to him.

"What…? I… okay…"

They were back at the precinct, and were now sitting in the interrogation room, looking for some much-needed answers from Chase. Chase ran a hand through his messy hair and asked, "Why am I here? I have nothing to do with Patrick's death."

"How about her?" Kate asked as she pushed a picture of Jessica towards him.

Chase grabbed the picture and choked out a sob, "Jessica!? She's dead…!?"

Kate and Rick shared a quick look with each other, before Kate answered the young man, "Yes, we found her on campus this afternoon. Someone slit her throat while she was sitting at a bench."

"Oh god… I can't believe she's gone. We were… We were just talking to each other last night."

"So, you two weren't just classmates? You two were close to each other," Castle asked him.

"She's my girlfriend… Was my girlfriend. She was helping me get through things with Patrick, but now…"

"Chase, we know this is hard for you, but you're the only lead we got. Do you know who would want to do this to her?" Kate asked.

"No, I mean… I don't think so. She used to be a big partier and did some wild stuff earlier this year. She was noticing that it was taking a toll on her grades, so she slowed it down a bit. We've been studying and hanging out together for at least three months now. I feel like no one would want to kill her."

"Where were you this afternoon?"

Chase let out a small sigh, and said, "I was in my apartment. I haven't left since I heard the news about Patrick. That's why Jess and I were on the phone last night, she was trying to help pull me from this slump I was in."

"Is there anyone who can verify that?"

"No… There are cameras around the building and if I left, they probably would have caught it."

"Okay, we'll look into it. You're free for now Mr. Grayson."

After Chase left, everyone was gathered around the investigation board, which only had a handful of evidence on it. Since they were pretty much back to square one with both cases, they'd have to figure out how these two crimes were connected once again.

"This has to be one of the hardest cases we had to solve within the last few months," Ryan said as he continued to look over the board.

"I agree, there's to many dead ends, and not enough leads," Beckett said.

"I think the killer knows what they're doing. They know just how far the leads we get will take us, and wind up being just short of finding who they are," Esposito said.

"I'm thinking the same thing. The killer has to know enough about both Patrick and Jessica to figure out how'd we investigate their deaths," Castle said.

"Yes, and so far, the only person that's connected to either of them is Chase," Beckett said with an irritated sigh.

"Whose alibi checked out, leaving us here, back at square one."

"There has to be a connection we're missing. Someone else knows them both, and knows that Chase would be the first person we'd go to as a suspect."

"Think that Tucker guy would know Jessica. He did work at their local bar, and if Chase was her boyfriend, they'd have to have met at least once," Ryan said.

"It's worth a shot, and the only other lead I could possibly think of at this time," Kate said.

* * *

Castle and Kate knocked on Tucker's door, hoping that he'd be able to help somewhat in this case. One clue could be the gateway to many more, and potentially leading them to a suspect, and another closed case. Tucker opened the door and said, "Oh, I wasn't expecting to see you guys here."

"Were you expecting someone else?" Castle asked.

"No, I just thought that I was done. I told you everything I could think of."

"I understand that, Tucker, but we were wondering if you could help us out," Kate said.

"With what?"

"There was another murder earlier today on campus. The victim was Jessica Gilbert, and she was dating Patrick's roommate, Chase. Did you know her?"

"Oh wow… Um… I kind of knew her. She was with Chase at the bar a couple of times. I made their drinks and made small talk like any bartender would, but honestly, I barely knew the girl."

"Well, do you remember anything significant that could lead us in the right direction? Did Chase and Jessica ever get into an argument? Did she get into an argument with someone else?"

"You know… I do remember one particular conversation they were having a couple of weeks ago…"

"What was it about?" Castle asked.

"You asked me if I knew an Alley earlier, and I didn't, but they were talking about her."

"The conversation was about Alley?"

"Yeah, I overheard Jessica talking to Patrick about his love life. Chase told her to cut it out, and to stop trying to be a match maker. But she kept pressing about it. Patrick told her that he wasn't quite sure what he was doing right now, and said he had his eye on some girl named Alley."

"Huh, Chase said that he didn't know that Patrick had a thing for Alley."

"Yeah, do you think he was trying to hide it?" Kate inquired.

"Possibly."

"Actually, Chase wasn't there when Patrick told her. Chase had gone off to the bathroom, and that's when Jessica started to pester Patrick more about his relationships," Tucker said.

"What happened after that?" Kate asked.

"She looked taken aback for a second, before she told him to pick anyone accept the psycho freak."

"Wow, harsh words," Castle said.

"I thought so too. Patrick told Jessica that Alley wasn't that bad, and that she was just quiet and misunderstood. Then Jessica proceeded to tell Patrick that she had her in one of her classes last year, and that the girl had a full-on meltdown after she accidently spilled soda on her art project."

"Hmm… So, it seems that Alley has a little bit of a crazy streak in her."

"I guess so… The conversation pretty much ended at that, because Patrick decided to get up and leave."

"Thank you, Tucker. We appreciate the information you gave us," Beckett said.

"It's no problem… Glad I was able to remember that. I hope you find who did this."

"Us too," Castle said.

* * *

Alley was brought down to the precinct, and was currently waiting in the interrogation room. She was nervously picking at the cuffs of her long-sleeved shirt, when Castle and Beckett walked into the room. They sat in front of the young woman, and Kate asked, "Nervous?"

Alley looked up at Detective Beckett and answered, "Yes, being in a precinct, and being interrogated, brings up some bad family memories…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Castle said.

"It's okay, I was quite young when it happened, but the memories still haunt me."

"I understand… We have a few questions for you, and then you'll be able to go, okay?" Beckett explained to her.

"Yeah, okay."

"So, did you know Jessica Gilbert?"

"Kind of, we had a few electives together a while back. Is she dead?"

"Yes, she was found earlier today on school grounds. Her throat was slit."

Alley ran a hand down her face and said, "Jeez, I can't believe it."

"We can't either. Were you at school today?" Kate asked her.

"No, I wasn't. I don't have classes on Thursdays. I was pretty much running errands and finishing up some projects that were due soon."

"So, you didn't step on campus once today?" Castle questioned her.

"No… Am I a suspect or something?"

"We're just following up on some leads we have. Your name has happened to come up quite a few times from plenty of different people."

"Oh, come on… I freaked out a few times and it was justified every time."

"So, you admit that you freaked out over Jessica spilling some soda on your art project?"

"Yes, it's no secret. I worked hard on that drawing, probably one of best art pieces that I've done since I've started there. I thought she'd apologize for ruining it, but she just laughed it off, and said it looked better like that anyway."

"I guess that'd make anyone mad."

"Yeah, I mean, wouldn't you be mad if someone spilled a drink on your computer, when your almost finished with your next novel?"

"Yeah, I'd be pretty upset… At least I'm able to save it on flash drives, and write notes down to remember my ideas. But an original piece of artwork is hard to replicate."

"Exactly… It just wasn't going to be the same, and it wasn't. My teacher gave me an extra week to re-do it for a grade, and it didn't turn out half as good as the first one."

"So, you didn't hold a grudge on Jessica for that incident?" Kate asked.

"No, I didn't like the girl, but just because I didn't care for her, doesn't mean I'd want to kill her. I'd never stoop to that level."

"Did you know her boyfriend, Chase Grayson, by any chance?"

"Um… Isn't he Patrick's Roommate?"

"Yes, it is."

"I kind of knew him, just like Jessica and Patrick. We may have had a class a couple of years ago, but honestly, I barely knew the guy. Is he a suspect?"

"We're still looking into it. We don't have any concrete evidence to pin a suspect yet."

Alley nodded and asked, "Am I free to go?"

"Yes, that's all the questions we have for you, for now at least. Please be careful Alley, and if you notice anything suspicious or feel you're in danger, don't hesitate to call the number on the card that I gave you earlier," Beckett said to her.

"Sure thing, detective Beckett. Thank you."

The three of them got up and left the room, and Alley gave them a quick nod before she headed to the elevator to leave the precinct. They watched her leave, and Castle asked, "Do you think she's in danger?"

"I don't know Castle, but anyone and everyone at that school is a target right now," Kate answered him.

"I guess you're right. I just hope we can get to the bottom of this before anyone else gets hurt."

"I do too. So, let's start back at the beginning and see what we can come up with."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Don't forget to Review. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

* * *

Third Times A Charm

There was a raging storm outside, and Castle and Beckett were continuing to mull over the unusual cases that were rocking the small art college. They were hanging out at Castle's loft, and Kate was currently looking through some more papers pertaining to the two different cases. She rested against Castle's couch with a sigh, and said, "I can't find anymore connections between these two. I've looked over these papers two dozen times and I've found zilch."

"Well, I doubt that these two murders were some weird coincidence. Someone's gotta be lying to us, or we're missing something, or someone," Castle said with a sigh.

"I don't know who that'd be though. Alley seems to jumpy to be able to figure out something like this, Tucker seems to out of the loop, and Chase does have a solid alibi for both murders."

"That's true. I don't think that any one of them could've done this, they all seemed truly genuine when we confronted them."

"I agree… Then what are we missing?"

"Not sure…" Castle went into thinking mode before he asked aloud, "Think it's the dean?"

Kate raised a brow at Castle and questioned him, "The dean?"

"Yeah, I mean the whole nervous nelly thing could have been an act."

"Hmm, I guess so. What would his motives be though?"

"To get some recognition for his school. Even bad publicity is good publicity, right?"

"Sure, but I doubt students would really want to apply to a college that had people die on campus."

"You'd be surprised, some people are really into that stuff."

"I assume so. But why kill two students within the same circle?"

"To throw us off."

"I'm not sure Castle. Seems like we're grasping at straws here."

"Worth a shot. I mean we don't have much else to go on right now."

"Yeah, you have a point there."

Kate's phone started to ring, and she answered with, "Beckett."

" _Hey, you're not going to believe this_ ," Esposito said on the other end of the line.

"Tell me it's not another murder."

" _Not sure yet, but it's Chase_."

"I'll be there soon, and I'll fill in Castle as well."

" _All right, see you soon_."

"Okay," She said before she hung up.

"You're kidding me?" Castle asked.

"Afraid not, and it's Chase."

"We should have seen that coming."

"Yeah, let's get going."

* * *

They arrived at Chase's apartment complex and headed up to his room. When they got there, Chase was already lying in a body bag and he had a noose wrapped around his neck. Lanie was looking over him and Kate asked, "Did he kill himself?"

"Honestly, I don't know. There aren't any signs of a struggle as far as I can tell. There are also no noticeable markings that indicate that he was trying to pull at the rope to undo it. I also didn't notice any odd bruising premortem or postmortem. So, it very well could be a normal suicide. But I'll do an autopsy and see if I can find anything unusual," Lanie said.

"Thanks, Lanie."

"No problem."

Kate and Castle made their way over to Esposito and Ryan, and she asked, "Got anything?"

"Not really. Because of the storm, the security cameras didn't pick up any usable footage," Esposito answered.

"Yeah, and since it was late and terrible weather outside, most people were in their rooms, but no one heard anything suspiscious," Ryan said.

"Then how did they discover Chase's body?" Castle asked.

"His neighbors from next door came over to complain about his tv being up too loud. They knocked a few times with no answer, so they tried the handle and it was unlocked. They walked in and found him hanging from his pull-up bar on his doorway."

"Wow… Maybe he did kill himself. He felt so guilty about what he did to Patrick and Jessica, that he couldn't live with it."

"Not so fast, Castle. Even if this does turn out to be a suicide, we still don't have anything linking him to their murders, besides the fact that he was close to both of our victims," Beckett said.

"True, he could have just been depressed after losing the two closest people in his life right now, not to mention they were both within a 72-hour time frame. So, he killed himself to end the suffering," Esposito said.

"Wait? Did you say he was hanging on his pull-up bar?" Castle questioned as he looked over towards the spot.

"Yeah, why?"

"How did he get up there?"

"He probably pulled himself up and then let himself drop," Ryan said.

"I think Castle has a point. Why go through all that effort? Any normal person would have a stool, or chair to do the deed," Beckett said.

"Maybe he felt it was easier this way. Quick, and to the point," Esposito mentioned.

"Well, until we get more information, this case will remain open. I have a feeling the killer we are searching for is pulling our legs and wanting us to believe that Chase has been our suspect all along."

* * *

A couple hours after they returned to the precinct to go over the new information they had, they received a text from Lanie to head to the morgue. The four of them went down there to see what she had found, and the first thing to greet them was Chase's body lying on the slab.

"Well, you guys were right. This was no ordinary suicide, it was a homicide," Lanie said.

"I knew it," Castle said, feeling proud of himself.

"How do you Know?" Beckett asked Lanie.

"I found some trace evidence in his nose and mouth, and it turned out to be some kind of cloth material. It also had traces of chloroform on it, which was also in Chase's system before he died."

"So, someone snuck into Chase's room, drugged him, and then hung him on his pull-up bar, to make it seem like he committed suicide. In turn, making us believe that Chase was our culprit the whole time… But who?" Castle questioned.

"That's what we're going to have to figure out," Beckett said.

"Well, who's our main suspects?" Ryan asked.

"There's Alley, the shy, and timid girl. Who occasionally freaks out," Castle said.

"Then there's Trevor, who was in a complicated relationship with our first victim, and bartended at the local bar," Kate said.

"Lastly, there's the dean, who I still believe could be instigating this whole thing, just to get his school some attention."

"I still doubt that, but there's him too."

"Should we all go talk to them again? See if we can get something out of them?" Esposito asked.

Beckett sighed and said, "No, we don't have enough evidence to go on just yet. If we keep harassing them, they could become less cooperative with us, which'll leave us with even more questions that we won't get answered. I say we go home, get some rest, and comeback tomorrow to try and dig further into this case."

Everyone agreed, and headed home for the night, so they could comeback tomorrow, refreshed and ready to crack the case wide open.

* * *

It was late, and Kate was just about to drift off to sleep when her phone started ringing. She grumbled and reached for the phone on her dresser. She looked at the number with half-lidded eyes, and noticed it was a number that she didn't recognize. She answered the phone cautiously and questioned the phone caller, "Detective Beckett, who's this?"

"Det… Detective Beckett…" a girl's scared voice echoed over the phone.

"Alley, is that you?"

"Yes… I'm really scared, and I have no one else to call."

Beckett was fully awake now, and she sat up in her bed and tried to calm the frightened young woman down, "Hey, what's wrong? Are you in danger?"

"I'm not quite sure. I was doing some errands earlier today, and it felt like someone was watching me. I shrugged it off as me being paranoid after everything that's happened with Patrick and Jessica… But I could have sworn I saw someone when I came home… I was just hoping that you could come over, maybe ease my mind, and tell me I'm being over dramatic."

"Did you call the cops?"

"No… I figured they wouldn't come if I was in no apparent danger."

"You know, I'll swing by for a bit and make sure you're all right."

"Okay, thank you so much."

"It's nothing, just make sure you stay alert, and keep everything locked until I get there."

"Will do… See you in a bit Detective."

"Yes, see you soon."

Kate hung up the phone and sighed. She knew the potential killer was still on the loose, but didn't even think that Alley could possibly be the next target on this nut jobs list. Kate wondered if anyone else could be in danger, like Trevor or the dean. They could potentially be at risk too, or one of them could very well be the one doing this.

Kate cleared her racing thoughts, and quickly jumped out of bed before throwing on some clothes. Once she was dressed, she headed out the door, hoping that Alley would still be alive when she got there.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Glad everyone's enjoying it so far. Trying to finish chapter 6, and hopefully get to chapter 7 right after. Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

* * *

I Got You Right Where I Want You

Kate was at Alley's apartment and knocked on the door a couple of times. After a few seconds, Alley opened the door with a relieved smile gracing her face.

"I'm so glad you came detective. Please come in," the girl said as she ushered Kate into her apartment.

It was the first time Kate had been fully inside Alley's apartment and it was pretty clean for the most part. The only things that were lying about in her living room, were some opened sketchbooks, and a couple of rags with paint on them. Other than that, the place seemed pretty normal.

"Has anything happened since you last called me?" Kate asked the young woman.

"No… No… Thankfully, it's been predominantly quiet since I spoke to you on the phone. Maybe they gave up?" Alley questioned.

"I don't think so. They're probably laying low right now. So, I wouldn't quit worrying quite yet, this person is tricky, and if we let our guard down, even just for a second, he or she could strike."

"Yeah… Yeah, I guess your right. I'm just so nervous. I mean, I really didn't think that they'd target me. I always try to keep to myself, even if I do tend to freak out from time to time, but it's always justified."

"I'm not sure why they'd target you either. If it's someone from your class, maybe they're just taking out classmates for the hell of it. Or maybe, it's someone who knew Patrick liked you, and are jealous, and wants to take it out on everyone he had contact with."

"So, you don't know who the killer could be?"

"No, Alley. My team and I have been going over these three cases day and night, and have yet to find any strong connections to a possible killer. But I promise, he or she will not get away with this, and we'll track them down soon."

"Three cases?" Alley asked with confusion.

"Oh right, you probably didn't hear yet… We just found Chase's body a few hours ago in his apartment. It was staged as a suicide, but we think the killer set it up that way, so they could try and throw us off," Beckett said.

Alley sat down on her couch, with a shocked expression, running a hand through her short black hair.

"I can't believe this. What if I am next in line? But why me? What do I have to do with the three of them?" Alley said sadly.

Kate took a seat next to the girl, rubbing a comforting hand down her back, and said, "We don't know what this person's motives are right now. If they are after you, it has to tie into the rest of the cases somehow. But I'm going to make sure you stay safe, Okay?"

"Yes, thank you so much Detective Beckett."

"It's no problem, Alley. It's my job."

Alley nodded and said, "If we're going to be sitting around for a while, would you like anything? I have water, juice, coffee…"

Kate smiled at the sweet girl and said, "No, I'm fine."

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything."

"Sure thing."

It was quiet between the two for a few minutes, before Alley spoke up again, "I'm gonna get some of my art supplies from my room."

"You could sleep if you want, it's pretty late," Kate said.

"I don't think I can sleep with everything that's happened lately. Besides, I'd hate to leave you awake and alone when I' m the one who called you over here from sheer paranoia."

"It's all right. I really don't mind. I'd much rather take this precaution, and keep you safe, then be dealing with another murder, that I could have prevented."

"Well, I'll keep you company anyway. I'm just gonna grab a few things, and I'll be back in a bit."

Kate nodded, and Alley scurried off into her bedroom to get some things. While Alley was gone, Kate rummaged through the three sketchbooks she had scattered on the table. As she flipped through them, she saw several different drawings, from kids on playgrounds, people sitting on benches, and even animals of all shapes and sizes. Kate smiled as she continued to look at the artwork, and thought that Alley was a phenomenal artist. If Alley was able to get through this hard time, she had no doubt that'd she'd go far as an artist.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alley was currently having a little breakdown in her room while planning her last hoorah. She paced back and forth as she ran her hand through her hair several times within a few minutes. She knew she shouldn't be long while getting her "art supplies," because Detective Beckett would start to get suspicious. So far though, it seems that Beckett was completely clueless as to who Alley really was. She was surely grateful that she was able to get this far without getting caught, but this last phase in her jumbled-up plan, was going to be the hardest to pull off. At least she was able to lure Beckett here with ease, but now it was knocking her out, and taking her to a deserted location without being noticed.

Alley sighed, and figured that she could get the chloroform ready, and knock Kate out before she had to get her out of the apartment. As long as she took this one step at a time, then she'll be able put more things together as time went on. So, she took the chloroform bottle that was stashed under her bed, and grabbed a free rag that was close to her. She opened the bottle and folded the rag before putting a couple of small drops of chloroform on it.

She grabbed her composure, making sure she didn't give off any kind of vibes that would raise suspicions, and get her caught. Alley grabbed a few pencils in her other hand, just to make it look a little more convincing. When she was ready, she walked out with a small smile on her face, and noticed that Beckett was going through her sketchbooks. Beckett didn't even seem to notice her come out of the bedroom, so Alley took the opportunity to throw her hand around the couch, and placed the rag firmly against Beckett's mouth and nose.

Kate's eyes went wide, and the sketchbook in her hand fell to the floor, making a small thud when it hit. She tried desperately to free herself from Alley's grasp, but it was no use. Alley kept the rag secure to her face and wasn't going to give up easily. Kate was slowly losing consciousness and her strength to fight, and eventually drifted off into a dark abyss.

Alley looked at the limp detective on her floor and tried to figure out how to take the body out without being seen. Before she went to get anything that would help her remove Kate's body, she took the gun Kate had on her, and placed it in the back waistband of her jeans. Once she took the weapon, she grabbed a few zip ties that she had in one of her drawers, and tied them around Kate's wrists and ankles. Alley figured it be a smart idea to tie something around her mouth too just in case she became conscious during transport. So, she grabbed one of her clean rags, and wrapped it around Kate's mouth.

Once Alley was content on how she had detective Beckett, she looked for something to drag her out in. She searched high and low for something that would at least semi-fit the woman. The main option Alley was leaning towards was one of her larger tarps that she used when painting, but she figured that might be suspicious. But she figured everything would be suspicious when it's larger than she was.

After weighing out her options for a few minutes, she decided to just go with the tarp she had, and thankfully it was pretty filthy with paint splattered around it, so people might just think it's empty paint cans she's dragging to her car. Alley grabbed the tarp, and dragged Kate's body the best she could on to it. Once Kate was completely on the tarp, Alley let her go with a huff, and said, "Man, I should have worked out more."

She caught her breath, and went to find some rope, or ribbon, that she could use to tie the tarp together. She found a few different ones, and wrapped them around the tarp tightly, so it wouldn't pop open on the way to her car. Alley finished quickly, and grabbed the last few things she needed, before she began to drag Detective Beckett out of her apartment. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be anyone around this late at night, and it was a smooth trip from her apartment to her car. Of course, it was tiring as all hell because Beckett had to be at least five inches taller than her. Not to mention dragging a limp body from an apartment complex, to the parking lot, is not easy.

Alley remembered how hard it was trying to set up Chase's suicide, and figured that that was even tougher than this. His body would barely budge as she tugged the rope to get him to hang from the pull-up bar he had. She almost gave up, but figured she was already halfway there, might as well stick with it. So, after a few more attempts of heaving his body upward, she got him secured nicely, and was able to get out before anyone even noticed her.

After her little reminiscence of her last murder, Alley decided to get a move on before she does get caught. She lifted one side of the tarp to the best of her ability, and moved it up towards her trunk. She pushed and pulled Kate's body in several different directions, until it was finally in the trunk the way she wanted it. Once she was content with how her body was placed, she shut the trunk, got into the car, and drove off to the abandoned warehouse she found a few months ago.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

* * *

Times A Ticking

Castle woke up the next day, feeling refreshed and ready to go. It took him a while to fall asleep last night because he couldn't stop mulling over the case that the 12th was currently trying to solve. Usually he was able to pin point a suspect after a while, but this time, he kept coming up empty handed. No one they've conferred with so far has seemed to stand out as a potential serial killer, but maybe there's a possibility that one of them is extremely good at concealing it, making them the worst kind of threat.

Castle figured he was getting nowhere with his thoughts and decided to head down to the precinct. On his way there, he picked up two cups of coffee like he always did, and brought them down to the precinct with him. When he got there, he noticed that Kate wasn't there yet, and it was not like her to be there late. Castle checked his watch after placing her cup of coffee on her desk, just to make sure he was correct on the time.

"Hey, Castle," Ryan said as he walked up to the man.

"Hey, Ryan. Beckett isn't in yet?" Castle asked him.

"Huh, I guess not. That's odd."

"I was thinking that too. Maybe I should try her on the cell."

"Yeah, see where she is."

Castle took out his phone, and dialed Kate's number. It rang a few times before it went over to her voicemail, and Castle decided to leave a message on her machine, "Hey Beckett, it's Castle. We're at the precinct and wondering where you are. Call me back if you get this message."

He hung up the phone and Ryan asked, "She didn't pick up?"

"No, I think somethings wrong… This isn't like her."

"I think you might be right, Castle. She could be on her way though. We shouldn't panic quite yet."

"Mmm… I guess."

Esposito entered the room with a folder in his hands, and said, "You guys aren't going to believe this."

"What is it?" Castle asked.

"I did some more digging on our potential suspects, and I found some interesting things about Alley Lockhart."

"What did you find?"

"Well, her real name is Alley West. And when she was eight, she witnessed her mother drown her two-year-old sister in their bathtub."

"Oh, wow… That's pretty traumatizing."

"Yeah… So, after that, Alley spent three years in foster care until a family, Jane and Jack Lockhart, adopted her."

"You think since she was traumatized as a child, that she could possibly be lashing out now."

"Well, wait until you hear what else I dug up on Alley. Her adopted parents died last year due to a house fire that was caused by her adopted father."

"That would definitely stir up some issues."

"But it still doesn't mean she's our killer," Ryan said.

"No, but the cause of the fire was her dad's lit cigarette starting the blaze. Apparently, her dad quit smoking two years before the house went up."

"Anyone could have a weak moment," Castle said.

"Yes, but their bodies also showed traces of Ambien in their system."

"Huh, that is suspicious."

"Yeah, so after that, I decided to do a little more digging, and found out that Alley wasn't the best kid. Several times it mentioned that Alley would get physically violent with other children, caretakers, and even hurt herself. After she was taken in by the Lockharts', her violent outbursts seemed to dissipate over time. She was an A/B student, and hardly got into any trouble."

"Until now…"

"Do you think Alley has Beckett?" Ryan asked.

"Wait, Beckett's missing?" Esposito questioned them.

"There's a possibility. She didn't' answer her phone when I called her, and she's not here," Castle mentioned.

"If Alley has her, Beckett could be in serious trouble."

"We got to go over to Alley's apartment and find out what the hell is going on."

"Okay, you and I will check out her apartment. And Ryan, check to see if Beckett isn't at her place," Esposito said.

"All right," Ryan said.

The three of them went their separate ways, and hoped that Beckett was going to be all right.

* * *

Castle and Esposito made it to Alley's apartment with some uniformed cops by their sides, and Esposito knocked a couple of times.

"NYPD open up!" He exclaimed.

When there was no answer, or signs of movement coming from inside, Esposito kicked open the door, and they made their way inside with guns at the ready. They made their way around the place, looking for any sign of Beckett or Alley, but found nothing to speculate that Kate was even there. Castle noticed a sketchbook lying haphazardly on the floor, and said, "Looks like someone dropped this. Think Kate was looking through this before Alley got the drop on her?"

Esposito shrugged and said, "Possibly, but we still don't have concrete evidence that Beckett was even here."

"No, I guess not."

"I'll see if CSU can get any traces on the sketchbooks, and furniture. It might link Beckett, but we still have to keep our options open. We could be chasing the wrong person."

"Yeah, I understand."

Esposito took another hard look in Alley's room after they gave the all clear, and this time he noticed her paintings and drawings scattering the room. Each one got darker and darker as he scanned the bedroom, and he was not liking the disturbing images he was finding there.

"Hey, Castle. Take a look at these," Esposito called out.

Castle made his way into Alley's room with Esposito, and noticed the artwork he was eyeing. Castle's brow rose as he checked out each one, and he said, "Now that's some creepy art."

"Tell me about it."

"Is that, Patrick?"

"Hmm… Looks like it. Several of these pieces look like Patrick."

"Yes, and this must be the most recent painting of him," Castle said as he held up a water color painting of Patrick, looking exactly the way he was at the crime scene.

"Looks like she also did one of Jessica and Chase too," Esposito said as he sifted through a few other pictures.

"Let's hope that we get to Beckett in time, before she's the next victim immortalized in these twisted pieces of art."

* * *

They were all back at the precinct, searching through anything that could lead them to Alley and Kate's whereabouts, but nothing pin pointed a location that was promising. They knew time was ticking because Alley was a loose cannon, and wouldn't even think twice before killing Beckett.

"We aren't getting anywhere with this," Castle said with a sigh.

Ryan ran his hands down his face and said, "No, we aren't."

"I checked every bit of information pertaining to Alley, and there's no possible place she might have taken Beckett," Esposito said.

"Wait, is Alley's mother still in prison?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, she's locked up at the New York Women's Penitentiary."

"Maybe we should pay her a visit. She might be able to give us some information."

"That's not a bad idea. She might know something about Alley that we don't"

"Yes, and hopefully that helps us get one step closer to finding Beckett."

"Okay, you two go and talk to her biological mother, and I'll stay here and comb through everything some more."

* * *

Ryan and Castle went to the New York Penitentiary and went to talk to Alley's mother. They sat in a room opposite of Naomi West, Alley's biological mother, and got ready to get down to business.

"So, you're Alley's mother?" Castle asked the woman.

"Yeah, so. That devil child put me in here," She said with a huff.

"Harsh words coming from a mother who's supposed to love and protect their child."

"Well, when your eight-year-old kid kills her little sister, and manipulates the police enough to put her mother behind bars, then you would feel the same way."

"Are you saying that Alley killed her little sister?" Ryan questioned her.

"Yup, been telling people that for years… Do you think they'd believe me? No. Who'd believe that a sweet little girl would be that devious, or smart, to drown her own sister in a bathtub, not to mention spinning the story around to make me look guilty."

"I thought Alley had bruises on her?" Castle said.

"I didn't do that to her. She started hurting herself when she was six years old. She'd scratch herself, hit her head against the wall, and slam her body into things. I tried everything to keep her from doing that, but she'd lash out at me."

"Wow, she was even more neurotic than we thought."

"I knew something would happen with her. It was only a matter of time."

"How comes you never got her any help?"

"I don't know. She was sweet at first… The most loving kid you could imagine. She even helped with her sister when she was first born, but all of a sudden, something just snapped in her. I thought it was just a phase, and it would pass, but then she killed Mae. I was devastated."

"I understand, Mrs. West."

"Do you know where Alley might go to get away from everyone? Some kind of deserted location that no one may know about."

"I haven't seen Alley since my trial. The little brat smirked at me when I got dragged off to start my forty-year sentence."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But you don't know any place you've might have taken them before all of that?"

"Nope, not at all. I'm sorry I can't be of help, but can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What has she done?"

"She killed three people from an art college that she was attending. She may have taken one of our detectives' hostage and we are trying to locate them before it's too late," Ryan told the woman.

Naomi nodded slowly, trying to let everything sink in, and said, "I wish I could have prevented all of this. I knew the kid was a monster, and I let her run free and cause chaos everywhere she went."

"Don't blame yourself. We all want to see the good in our children, but sometimes we have to except that there's a bad egg in the bunch," Castle said.

"I guess you're right. I hope you find her, and the detective you are looking for."

"Thank you."

* * *

Ryan and Castle left the women's prison, with not much else to go on to help find Beckett. They did find out that Alley was definitely an unstable human being, and even killed her little sister when she was just a kid herself. As they drove back to the precinct, Castle's phone started to ring, and he checked the caller I.D. to see who it was. It turned out to be Esposito, so Castle answered hoping that he found something useful, "Espo, did you find anything?"

"Not yet, but we might be getting close. I asked Tori to see if she could track her phone, and we haven't gotten a trace yet, but hopefully soon," Esposito mentioned.

"Okay, we're heading back now."

"Did you guys get anything from her mother?"

"Nothing… Alley was the one who killed her sister though. I wouldn't doubt that she had something to do with the death of her adopted parents as well."

"Man, this girl definitely has a screw loose somewhere. We need to get to Beckett."

"I agree… We'll see you soon."

"Okay."

* * *

Ryan and Castle got back to the precinct, and as soon as they walked off the elevator, Esposito was there to greet them.

"You guys made it just in time. We got a hit off of Alley's phone, and have a general location of where she could have taken Beckett," Esposito said.

"Where are they?" Castle asked.

"We looked around the area, and found that there was a massive warehouse that shutdown almost ten years ago. The rest of the area is covered in woods, so it's pretty isolated."

"Great, how far is it?"

"That's the bad news, it's two and a half hours north of here. We might not make it."

"Then let's try."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

* * *

Buying Time

Alley was currently meandering around the old abandoned warehouse, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of the mess she has gotten herself into. She knew exactly what she was doing when she killed Patrick, and then it just escalated from there. She had a plan in mind, but that was quickly falling apart as the cops started to close in on her. Alley wasn't quite sure if they'd figure it out, but they seemed to be smarter than she bargained for. Especially, when she found out that Richard Castle and Detective Beckett were on the case. She read all of the Nikki Heat novels that were out, and followed some of the notable cases that they have solved.

Since Alley was somewhat aware of how the two worked, she was sure that they'd be able to read between the lines, and eventually be able to pin it on her. Even though she felt that making Chase's death a suicide was a decent cover, it wasn't full proof, and she panicked. So, she suckered Detective Beckett into her trap, and now here they were.

Alley looked over at the unconscious detective that she had duct taped to a metal folding chair. She was starting to worry about Detective Beckett since she wasn't awake yet, and even though she was planning on killing her anyway, there was still apart of her that was trying to determine if this last hoorah was worth it. She was already going away for a very long time after everything else she has done, so why not add cop killer to the list of felonies.

Kate started to stir in the chair she was strapped to, awakening from her forced slumber, and tried to blink the haziness from her eyes. Alley sat down on the old, rusty, chair that she placed in front of Beckett when they first arrived at the warehouse. Kate looked at the girl with confusion, and questioned her, "It was you the whole time?"

Alley nodded her head slowly, and answered, "Yep… I swore up and down that you'd figure it out along the way, but I'm surprised you didn't."

"There was no concrete evidence that linked to you, or any other suspects we had in mind. I'm sure we would have been able to dig something up that led to you. We just needed a little more time."

"I figured as much… That's why I acted quickly. You and that writer of yours seem to work really well together, so I wasn't going to take any chances."

"How do you know that?"

"I can see it, every time I've seen you two together, I can see how your minds work. Plus, I read a lot of articles and Nikki Heat novels to understand the relationship between the two of you, and how you guys go about solving some of your predominantly harder cases."

"So, you read up on us?"

"Not intentionally… I happened to stumble upon Mr. Castle's books back in high school, and got invested in them. Then when I heard Nikki Heat was based off of you, I decided to check out some of the real cases you've dealt with. So, when I found out you, Richard Castle, and the 12th precinct would be dealing with the murders, I kind of panicked a bit. I knew you wouldn't be far from my trail, so I thought this would be a nice send off for me."

"You're not going down without a fight, are you?"

"Nope… I don't have much to live for anyway. Getting locked up for life, that's not for me."

"I know it's not ideal, but do you really want to throw away your life like that."

Alley shrugged and said, "I already have. I can't fight this monster inside of me, and being locked away in a room for years and years, to deal with all of my demons, is way worse than everything that's already running rampant in my head. So, if I have to sit and reflect on everything I have done in my life, then I'd much rather be dead. I can't deal with it anymore."

Kate felt bad for the girl, but she knew that the longer she kept the conversation going, her team would be able to track her down, and hopefully before Alley starts her last stand. So, to buy some time, she decided to ask her a question, "I have a feeling you've killed before Alley. That's what you were talking about at the precinct, right?"

Alley nodded and said, "Yeah, but I was able to place the blame on my mom. I lied and manipulated everyone, I mean, who would believe that an eight-year-old drowned their little sister."

"So, you pinned it on your mother."

"Yep, it was easy."

"Why? Why did you do it?"

"You know… I really don't know. I loved my sister, she was a blast, even though she was only about two when I killed her. But when I was six, I started having my freak outs, as some may say. I started hurting myself and throwing myself against walls, and what not. I couldn't figure things out, everything was a jumbled mess. The feeling would come and go, so Id be okay for a couple of days, weeks, and then that feeling would come right back, making me go into a fit of rage."

"The night you killed your sister, you had that feeling again."

"Yes, it was becoming more frequent, and my mom was starting to get frustrated with me. She asked me why I couldn't act like a normal child. She hoped my sister wouldn't turn out to be a freak as well. I was angry the whole day, but I didn't know what to do. My mother got a phone call during my sisters' bath. She told me to watch her, so I did. I don't know what caused me to push her, and hold her down in the tub, but I did. I enjoyed it too. When my mom came back, I remember the pain in her eyes as she pushed me away and grabbed Mae's lifeless body. I formulated a plan in my head, as she cried over my sisters' body, and I grabbed the phone, calling 911. I quickly spun the story around on her, and they dragged my mom off to prison that night. I had to tell the same story several times, over and over again… From the investigators, to the jury, and everyone in between. I made sure there were no flaws in it, because I knew if I made one mistake down the line, I'd be questioned even more."

"Why didn't your mother get you help?"

"I have no clue, but I don't think that would have done much. It may have saved my sisters life, but I'm sure we'd still be here today."

"What happened after?"

"I was in and out of children homes and stayed with a few foster families. I knew my behavior was keeping me from being adopted, so I taught myself how to fight the urges. I got adopted by Jack and Jane Lockhart when I was eleven, and things were going great. I was able to be a decent kid, and made it through school with no problems whatsoever. Then last year, the urges came back and way worse than before. I tried to ignore them, push them down again, but I couldn't. I loved my adopted parents, they were great, but they were starting to look at me just like my mother used to. Like everyone does. Like I'm some freak, but I'm not… I don't know what's wrong with me."

"You're just a little different. All you needed was a little bit of help, and guidance. You were already able to fight your urges once before, maybe if someone reached out to you, you might have been all right."

Alley let out a sad, breathy, chuckle, and said, "Maybe… But it's to late for that, isn't it? I killed my adoptive parents, I killed three peers, and now I've kidnapped a detective. I already decided my fate the night I killed Patrick, so might as well carry it through."

"You don't have to do this Alley."

"Don't try to reason with me Detective Beckett. Even if I spare you, what's in it for me? Nothing… Like I said earlier, I'm not afraid to die."

Kate didn't like the sound of that, and she knew if she didn't get through to Alley, then she'd surely be a goner, and soon. She tried to formulate a plan in her head, so she could stall Alley, because Kate figured Castle and the 12th were already figuring things out, and were hopefully on their way. She felt stupid for not notifying anyone that she was even going over to Alley's place. It was a rookie mistake, but she honestly hoped that Alley was innocent in all of this. She felt sorry for the girl, and maybe liked her a little bit.

Kate's body tensed up as she watched Alley pull her gun out from the back waistband of her jeans. Alley looked over the weapon and let out a small sigh. Kate figured that Alley was struggling with the thoughts running in her head, and said, "Having second thoughts?"

Alley looked up at the woman and said, "No…"

"You're stalling Alley. If you wanted to kill me, you would have by now. You're waiting for the cops to come, aren't you? You're going to go down guns blazing."

"That's the plan."

"You're scared."

"Of course I'm scared. Who wouldn't be? I mean… what if it doesn't work, or what if it does? My future is unknown and that scares me…"

"I understand."

Sirens could be heard in the distance, and Alley stood up from where she was sitting. She went over to a small crack in the old building, and peeked through it to see all the flashing lights making their way over. She dropped her head with another long sigh, before she turned her head to look over at Beckett. They eyed each other for a few seconds, neither saying a word, before Alley broke the silence, "I guess it's time."

"Alley Please…" Kate tried to plead with he girl.

She knew there wasn't much left to say. How could you get through to someone who was already too far gone? The answer is, you can't. Kate tried, but Alley had her mind set on this plan since day one. Even with her doubts, she figured that this was her only option.

Alley bent down in front of Beckett and said, "Don't worry detective… Maybe we'll see each other again someday… Another life. Hopefully it's a better one."

"Alley, don't' do this," Kate said.

Alley stood and said, "It's already done."

She walked behind Kate and placed the gun at her temple, while taking her free arm around Kate's upper chest, near the neck. Alley looked towards the door of the building and whispered, "Now we wait…"


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Took longer than I hoped, but the dialogue wasn't flowing like I wanted... but I hope everyone enjoys the end. Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the final chapter, enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

* * *

Final Stand

Alley kept the gun trained on Kate's temple, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she waited for the cops to breakdown the door. She kept staring the door down as she heard the sirens getting louder and closer with each ticking second.

Kate didn't dare move a muscle because she knew how unhinged Alley was at this very moment. Kate didn't have many options remaining either. She knew she wouldn't be able to break her restraints, or talk Alley down from her suicide mission, so she was pretty much a sitting duck.

Eventually, the sirens stopped right out front of the worn-down warehouse, and the flashing lights were somewhat visible through some of the small cracks in the walls. Alley steadied herself as she waited for the fun to begin.

"ALLEY! We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands up, or we're coming in!" Esposito yelled from outside.

"Make one move and I'll blow her brains out!" Alley yelled back, before whispering into Kate's ear, "I always wanted to say that."

"Alley just listen to them. If you go peacefully…"

"If I go peacefully, I'll get ten years off my several life sentences… Gee, sounds great."

"Alley, you don't want to do this. There's still some good in you. You don't want to hurt Detective Beckett," Castle said from outside.

"How would you know? Because with my track record, I doubt I have a single decent bone in my body," Alley said back to the man.

"Alley, if there's one last thing you could do in your life, spare someone else's. Kate was nice to you, she tried to see the good in you… Don't do this."

Alley lowered her head, thinking about what everyone has said so far, and let out a sigh. She was slowly losing her resolve, but she didn't dare want to give up now. Her life was already ruined, so what's the harm in going out like this?

"Alley?" Kate whispered out.

"Look… I'm sorry for what I put you through, and what I've done to everyone that I have killed up until now. I never thought I'd get like this, and I wish I could have been normal like my mother wanted me to be. Like everyone wanted me to be. I'm real sorry Kate…"

"It's okay, Alley. If you let me go, and leave the building peacefully, we can figure something out. I promise you."

"I have no doubt that you would do that for me, and I thank you for that, but I honestly don't deserve it. We're already here now, and I'm going to follow it through," Alley cocked Kate's gun, as she continued to hold it against her forehead, and whispered out, "I'm so sorry… I do hope you'll be able to forgive me."

A gun shot echoed through the air, and Castle screamed out in pain. He tried to run into the building to get to the one he loved, but Esposito and Ryan tried their best to hold him back since it wasn't safe. Castle tried to desperately pull out of their grasps, but it was no use, they kept a strong grip on him. As Castle continued to free himself, he kept yelling out to Kate repeatedly, "KATE!"

"Castle, you can't go in there. It's not clear yet. Alley is still armed, and she can kill you too," Esposito said trying to get through to Castle.

"I don't care! I need to be with Beckett… She can't be… She can't be dead…"

"We'll send in the officers and take Alley down. Just wait for us to give the all clear, okay?" Ryan said as calmly as he could.

"F… Fine," Castle choked out.

Ryan nodded at him solemnly, before he motioned towards the uniformed officers to head inside the building. The uniformed officers cautiously went into the building and shuffled about as they made their way around. Esposito and Ryan decided to stay with Castle to make sure he didn't do anything stupid, getting himself killed as well. They already lost one friend today, they couldn't lose another one.

One of the uniformed officers came back and said, "All clear… Suspect down, and the victim is alive."

Castle's eyes shot open, at hearing those words, and he quickly pulled away from the guys, to run into the building. He blocked out Ryan and Esposito's calls to wait, because he couldn't wait any longer. He needed to see Kate, and to make sure that she was truly alive and okay.

When he got into the large warehouse, and into the run-down room that Alley had them in, he spotted Kate getting cut lose from duct-tape restraints. Alley was laying close by, with a bullet wound towards the head. He walked over to his partner, his recent girlfriend, the one that he loved, and pulled her into a tight embrace. He didn't care if everyone could see that there was more there than the friendship, they've gained over the last five years, he was just happy to have Kate alive and in his arms.

"I should have seen this coming. I shouldn't have gone to her place alone," Kate said as she continued to hug him back.

"She fooled us all Kate. I wouldn't have known either if Esposito hadn't pulled up all the info on her. She was smart, and she knew what she was doing," he said.

"I guess so," she looked down at Alley's still body, and said, "I'm just surprised she didn't kill me."

"Maybe there was still some good left in her after all."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"Becket," Ryan and Esposito called out as they walked into the room.

She gave them both a quick hug, and Esposito said, "I'm glad she didn't kill you Beckett."

"Yeah, it was a close call, but I'm glad it worked out in the end."

"Us too… She didn't' hurt you, did she?" Ryan asked.

"No, I'm fine… Alley was trying to figure things out, fighting with her inner self, but I think she made the only choice she felt was right."

"Yeah, I'm just glad she didn't take you with her."

"Me too."

* * *

Two days have gone by since Kate was taken hostage by Alley, and everything was pretty much back to normal. Captain Gates suggested that Kate should take a couple of days off after everything that happened, but of course Kate said she was fine, and ready to get back to work. The captain wasn't having any of it, so Kate reluctantly took the couple of days off of work, and decided to spend her time doing some errands and hanging out with Castle.

"So, have any plans for today?" Castle asked as he made himself a cup of coffee.

Kate placed her own mug down in front of her, as she sat at Castle's kitchen island, and answered, "There's one thing I had on my to-do list, but other than that, nothing much. Why?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to have brunch with me. Go to that small restaurant I was talking about a few weeks ago."

"Hmm… I'd love too, but I have to be there in about an hour. I'll take a rain check though."

"Okay cool… So, where are you heading? If you don't mind me asking."

"I'm going to visit someone… Get some closure, if you want to look at it that way."

"Do you want some company? I don't mind tagging along."

"Thanks Castle, but I think this is something I want to do alone."

"Well, okay. I'll see you later though, right?"

"Yep, and maybe we can have some dinner instead."

"Sounds good," Castle said with a smile.

Kate smiled back before giving Castle a quick kiss on the lips, and started heading towards the door.

"See you later, Kate," Castle said with a small wave goodbye.

"See you later," she said, flashing him a smile before she walked out the door.

* * *

Kate drove to a cemetery a few miles away from Castle's loft, and went to find the burial plot of Alley Lockhart. She had found out that Alley was being buried next to her adopted parents today, and wanted to stop by to pay her a visit. When she reached the plot, she found a uniformed officer there, along with a woman in her mid-forties, who she assumed was her biological mother. Kate nodded towards the officer before she went up to the woman and said, "You must be Alley's mother."

"Yes… Who are you?" Naomi asked.

"I'm detective Beckett. I'm the one your daughter kidnapped."

"I'm really sorry that my daughter put you through that. I wasn't even going to come out to see her, but I figured I should say goodbye. It's my fault she wound up like this anyway."

"Why would you say that?"

"I should have gotten her some help as soon as the signs started to show that she was different. Once she started lashing out, I should have done something, but I didn't. I could have prevented all of this, and then I'd probably have both of my daughters here with me… We'd be that happy, normal family that we once were."

"Don't blame yourself. You thought she'd grow out of it, and hoped for the best for your daughter. Who would have thought that she'd kill her younger sister?"

"I guess your right detective… I guess she did one good thing in her life, and that was sparing your life, but I honestly thought that that wouldn't be the case."

"I didn't think so either... I just wish we could have saved hers."

"Me too."

It was quiet between the two for a few minutes as they continued to look at the young woman's grave. Kate decided to break the silence and said, "I actually hoped you would be here today. I wanted to give you some news."

"What's that?" Naomi asked.

"I made a few calls, and was able to cut your forty year sentence down quite a bit. You'll only have to spend a few more years in there, as long as you keep up the good behavior."

"Wait… Really? You did that for me?"

"Yes, I did. If anything good can come from this whole fiasco, I figured that this should be one of them. You didn't kill Mae, and Alley pretty much confessed the whole thing to me. So, after thinking things through, I figured an innocent woman shouldn't be wasting her life in jail when she didn't do anything. It might not bring them back, but at least you'll be a free woman."

Naomi wiped a few tears that were running down her face, and said with a smile, "That's the best news I've heard in a long time. I for sure thought I'd be in there until the day I die, but I'm so happy I'll be getting out. I may not have my daughters with me, but I get to start over now. It may be hard to get back into the swing of things, but I'm sure it'll be well worth it."

"It's no problem. I just wanted to deliver the news personally before you heard it from anyone else."

"I appreciate that. Despite this tragedy, this may be the best day I've had in a long time."

"I don't doubt that," Kate said as she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. She unfolded the sketchbook paper that had a small polaroid photo attached to it with a paper clip, and handed it over to Alley's mother, "I saw this in the back of her sketchbook before she knocked me out. I thought you might want to have it."

Naomi smiled brightly, as she took the drawing and picture from Kates hand. She looked over it a few times before she said, "This was taken two and a half weeks before Alley killed Mae. They were having special prices down at the zoo, so I thought I'd take them for a fun day out. A man was going around taking photos of all the families, so we decided to do a cute family photo together. I never knew what happened to this photo, but I guess Alley decided to take it for herself. I never knew how good of an artist she was, and I'm proud of her. I just wish she would have been able to do something with those talents if she wasn't so messed up."

"She was definitely a great artist."

The uniformed officer cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry to break this up, but your time is up. We have to get back to the prison."

Naomi nodded sadly, and said, "I understand… Just give me a minute, please?"

"Sure thing."

Naomi took the photo from the drawing and placed it against Alley's tombstone. Once she was satisfied with how the picture was laying against the headstone, she took the drawing and folded it back up. When she was done folding it, she took the drawing and tucked it in the waistband of her prison pants. She turned to Kate, reaching a hand out for her to shake, and said, "Thanks again, detective. For everything."

Kate shook the woman's hand and replied, "It was no problem. Good luck to you."

Naomi gave her a small nod before she walked off with the uniformed officer, so they could head back to the prison. Kate looked over Alley's grave once more and said, "Alley, I hope you are at peace, and with your little sister. I know deep down you still loved her, and that you didn't mean anything that you did. You were just lost and confused, and didn't know how to handle the anger that was inside of you… And Alley, I do forgive you."

Content with everything that just happened, Kate stepped away and walked off to her car. Kate was grateful to be alive, and by no means was this the first time that she could have died, and it most certainly will not be the last. She loves what she does, and there's no way that she'll ever regret the job choice that she made, even when things like this happen. With that, she decided to go back to Castle's loft, so she could go spend time with the one that she loved, before another case came around to test her limits once again.


End file.
